The
concept of "Sacrifice (Qurbaani)" which is believed to be one of the
important essences of Islamic philosophy becomes narrower and selfish when it
is only promoted through the practice of animal slaughtering. A pure sacrifice
can only be achieved from freeing one's personal greediness and ego. One’s sins
cannot be absolved by the blood of another. In Islam, all that is demanded as a
sacrifice is one's personal willingness to submit one's ego and individual will
to Allah. This is what the Holy
Quran says in Chapter (64) sūrat l-taghābun :
“So fear Allah as much
as ye can; listen and obey and spend in charity for the benefit of your own
soul and those saved from the covetousness of their own souls,- they are the
ones that achieve prosperity.”
Islam actually tried to
break away from the longstanding tradition of appeasing an "angry
God" by animal sacrifices practiced during the pre-Islamic Arab world. Both
Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his own son as per Allah’s order (which was
only a test and never meant to be realized) and Ismail’s willingness to
surrender his own life to fulfill his father’s duty to Allah signifies the
virtue of ultimate sacrifice. This action only symbolically represents the paramount
psychological determination needed for surrendering
human being’s closest emotional attachments to great Allah's mercy
and justice. According to Surah 22.
Al-Hajj, Ayah 37:
“It is
not their (animals for sacrifice) meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah: it
is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that ye
may glorify Allah for His guidance to you: And proclaim the Good News to all
who do right.”
“No
one should suppose that meat or blood is acceptable to the One True God. It was
a pagan fancy that Allah could be appeased by blood sacrifice. But Allah does
accept the offering of our hearts, and as a symbol of such offer, some visible
institution is necessary. He has given us power over the brute creation, and
permitted us to eat meat, but only if we pronounce His name at the solemn act
of taking life, for without this solemn invocation, we are apt to forget the
sacredness of life. By this invocation we are reminded that wanton cruelty is
not in our thoughts, but only the need for food …" (Yusuf Ali commentary)
